Mr. Speaker, I am glad to have this opportunity to ask my colleague a question. He seems to be pretending that all of the Conservative government's bad statistics just do not exist.
The Conservatives always want to make us think that they have such a stellar track record, but plenty of numbers suggest the opposite. In 2013 alone, employment growth was slower than ever since the recession. Since the current Prime Minister took over, 300,000 more people have joined the ranks of the unemployed, and there are now 400,000 fewer manufacturing sector jobs.
Sherbrooke has been affected by the loss of manufacturing sector jobs. Some 400,000 good jobs have disappeared on the Conservatives' watch. Canada's trade balance is still in a deficit situation: $61 billion in 2013. In addition, the Conservatives have given us deficit budgets ever since coming to power.
Can the member explain how the Conservatives can call themselves good economic managers when they have run deficit budgets since coming to power?